Conversion to Disciplemaking

January 16, 2011

The church is in a crisis today.

According to Os Guinness, in the modern world “evangelism is easier than ever, but discipleship, a total lifetime dedication to God's call in Christ in every sphere of life, that is against the grain of modern life and very difficult.”

It is against the modern life because people are open to changes but fickle to commitment that encroaches on their rights.

For the longest time, the church has been accused of being irrelevant and boring to the people in the world. In response, we see a surge in churches trying to engage the world.

Yet the church that seeks to connect with the lost treads a narrow path these days. How do you engage the world without giving in to their agenda to be entertained and stimulated all the time? How do you draw the unchurched without patronizing them with a pat on the back and a scratch on the back? How do we keep ourselves from reducing the truth into another ‘pop’ teaching?

To engage the world and then to move the people from confession to conviction of faith remains the church’s biggest challenge. The aim of God’s church must be to move people from responding to the altar call to carrying up the cross.

Jesus’ calling is that we should ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matt 28:19). To make authentic lifelong followers of Jesus is His command.

To do so involves purposeful intentionality at the end goal – not just making converts but followers. Not just happy with the quantity but the quality of disciples. Not being satisfied with short-term result but to stick around for the long haul.

After all, there is no short cut to discipleship and disciple making.